Corrosion in potlining refractories: Effect of cathode material interpreted using a unified approach

The corrosion chemistry of aluminosilicate potlining refractories has been studied using a post-mortem approach that considers both metallic sodium and molten bath as the corrosive agents. This article describes the results, which show that the cathode block material has a significant influence on the type of corrosion involved. Cells containing semi-graphitized cathode blocks are more susceptible to the attack of their refractory potlining by the action of the molten bath. The use of amorphous blocks in such cells promotes the corrosion of their potlining refractories mostly by the action of the metallic sodium. For more information, contact C. Allaire, école Polytechnique (CRIQ campus), Department of Engineering Physics and Materials Engineering, 8475 Christophe-Colomb Street, Montréal, QC, H2M 2N9, Canada; claude.allaire@polymtl.ca.